Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper and cast talk about their buzzed film, A Star is Born at this year’s TIFF 18 conference ahead of the premiere.
When Bradley Cooper set out to mark his directorial debut with his project, A Star is Born, he had a very specific actor to play the Ally the lead.
But to both Gaga and Cooper’s surprise they not only ended up bonding as friends but artists.
“He said to me: ‘You are an actress’ and I said to him ‘You are a musician.’ We made that exchange,” the pop singer recounted about her Oscar-nominated co-star during their TIFF 18 press conference in Toronto.
What’s the story about?
The story follows Jack and Ally, two artistic souls coming together, on stage and in life. Theirs is a complex journey through the beauty and the heartbreak of a relationship struggling to survive.
“I’ve never been more fulfilled than in this process. The hardest thing was knowing that all the people… trusted me. The fact that they gave their blind trust to me was terrifying and motivating.” -Bradley Cooper, director.
Cooper portrays seasoned musician Jackson Maine, who discovers and falls in love with struggling artist Ally. She has given up on her dream to become a successful singer, until she meets Jack, who immediately sees her natural talent.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever had a closer artistic friendship with someone as I do with Bradley,” Gaga said. “This entire experience was life-changing. I have never had an artistic experience like this before.”
But what about Cooper’s singing ability? “It’s one thing to sing in the shower. It’s another thing to sing in front of 20,000 people,” Cooper said. “”It all had to be up to her level… Stefani was very adamant about it,” he explained, while discussing A Star is Born‘s live performances at festivals.
Will Bradley Cooper direct again?
With the rest of the cast including Sam Elliott, Dave Chappelle and Anthony Ramos praising Cooper for his very artistically free directing style and amazing set vibe, Cooper was asked if he will continue directing in the future.
“If I have an opportunity… yeah, that’s all I’d like to do,” Cooper admitted.
“I’ve never been more fulfilled than in this process. The hardest thing was knowing that all the people on this couch trusted me. The fact that they gave their blind trust to me was terrifying and motivating.”
A Star is Born hits theatres on October 5, 2018.
—by Toni-Marie Ippolito
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